


Breathless they paused

by pollitt



Category: Wings (1927)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death Fix, First Kiss, Fix-It, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:35:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28140030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pollitt/pseuds/pollitt
Summary: It’s been almost a month since David nearly died, and twenty-six days since Jack last saw him, pale and in pain butbreathingandalive.Jack and David are reunited once again.
Relationships: David Armstrong/Jack Powell
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	Breathless they paused

**Author's Note:**

  * For [m_madeleine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/m_madeleine/gifts).



> Happy holidays, m_madeleine! I hope you enjoy this. Thank you for the opportunity to write Jack and David.
> 
> Title taken from Thomas Hardy's poem, "And There Was a Great Calm"
> 
> Thank you also to my beta, M, who helps me get those words in line and also reminds me when I forget to add them.

_”Don’t go, David. Please.”_

_“I love you, Jack.”_

It was a moment that Jack’s mind replayed in a near-constant loop-- when he was awake, as he tried to sleep, it didn’t matter--that he wondered if reality had cracked and time had somehow repeated itself again and again like a broken watch face, the hands unable to advance. 

Or maybe it was Jack who couldn’t move forward as he waited, staring down at his hands and remembering how he had rubbed soothing circles at the crown of David’s head. His cheek tingling with the phantom memory of where David’s palm had rested. 

It’s been almost a month since David nearly died, and twenty-six days since Jack last saw him, pale and in pain but _breathing_ and _alive._ Margarey, whose plea to Jack had led to their reunion, and who had taken upon herself to visit David as he recuperated. She had taken upon herself to volunteer to nurse him through a fever that had settled in -- all the while sending letters to Jack with updates. Jack had only been able to send two in reply, but the last one had been the most important. In it he had let her know that he was on his way.

“Jack.” David’s voice and his eyes light up when he sees Jack in the doorway and for a moment Jack is back in the church. His whole body flushes cold and then hot, and he feels as though his legs might give out, but he stays standing and he’s at David’s bedside before he completely comprehends his legs are moving.

“David.” Jack doesn’t so much sit as semi-collapse into the chair next to David’s bed with a rush of relief to see color in David’s cheeks and David’s smile as he sits up taller in the bed and reaches out his hand to Jack.

“They said you were coming, but I wasn’t sure.” There’s a hitch in David’s voice and Jack gently squeezes his hand. 

“I thought about stealing a plane, but there’s no good place to land around here.” 

That earns Jack a laugh and they talk about David’s recovery while Jack tells him about the rumors that peace may be on the horizon. At some point they both realize that they’re still holding hands. The tips of David’s ears redden as he looks around the room and Jack does the same, their hands dropping from one another’s. No one seems to have taken any notice, but the words from the church echo in Jack’s ears and as he looks over at David it’s clear his thoughts are similar. 

“Can you walk? Can we?” Jack asks, motioning to the grounds outside.

“Yes,” David says, pulling the covers off his legs. 

“Where are you going?” a nurse asks, appearing from behind Jack. She politely but firmly steps in front of Jack and puts her hand on David’s elbow. “You don’t want to upset your wounds.”

“The doctor said the fresh air would be good for my recuperation.” David winces as he places his feet on the floor. “Have you seen my slippers?” 

“Let me,” Jack says, grabbing the slippers from their place beside David’s bed. He helps David slip them on as he looks up at the nurse. “I’ve got him. ” 

Jack gives the nurse his brightest grin, but it’s David’s smile, with its gentle turning up at the corners of his mouth and the way that makes his eyes crease, that obviously work their magic. She relents, giving Jack a stern look and warning him not to let David tire himself out. Jack promises and grabs David’s coat as he holds out his hand to help him stand. 

“Lead the way,” Jack says, wrapping David’s hand over his arm to offer his support as they make their way outside. 

They walk at an unhurried pace, neither feeling the need for conversation and enjoying the opportunity to walk side-by-side, David’s hand warm on Jack’s arm, Jack’s hand covering his, until Jack can feel David’s weight leaning a little more heavily on him and he knows that David’s tiring. He leads them to a copse of trees, and as soon as they’re out of view of the house, he pulls David close and into an embrace. 

“There’s nothing in this world that matters to me as much as you. I won’t lose you again,” Jack says.

He closes his eyes and remembers saying those words before, the way David had looked at him with understanding. 

“I can’t lose you. I …” Time stops again. The words Jack wants to say loop in his mind, not yet making it out.

David leans against him, his forehead resting against Jack’s shoulder as he wraps his arms around Jack’s waist. When he speaks, his words are muffled by the wool of David’s jacket. “How long?” 

“Since you bloodied my lip,” Jack says, burying his nose in the soft waves of David’s hair and inhaling deeply. There’s a faint scent of rose, and he wonders if that was Margery’s doing. She had been their witness, after all, in the church. Jack had seen it in her expression, could read in the words not written in her letters, that she understood. “You threw that punch and I think it knocked something right in my head. And then you held out your hand and helped me up.”

David’s body shakes and he lets out a sound that might be a laugh, or could be a sob, as his arms tighten around Jack’s waist. “All the way back then?”

“Took me a while to figure it out, but, yes, all the way back then.” Jack rubs his hand in a soothing circle at the small of David’s back. 

“You’re my world too,” David says.

Jack curves his hand around David’s jaw. “I love you, David,” he says and is rewarded with a blush that heats David’s cheeks and a smile that could light up Paris.

“I love you, Jack,” David answers. 

And this time, when they kiss, there’s no spectre of an ending, only a beginning. 

David’s arm wraps around Jack’s shoulder. Jack lets his fingers slide through David’s hair to cradle the back of his head. 

It’s a moment that will no doubt replay in Jack’s mind for years to come. 

Jack smiles at that as they reluctantly pull apart. He offers his arm to David once again and they walk forward toward the future together.

**Author's Note:**

> I played around a little with Jack and David's deathbed declarations to one another, but the "I love you" was also implied, imo. Also, for timeline, The Battle of Sait-Mihiel, where David was shot down originally, is mid-September, so I imagined this is near the end of the war.
> 
> Also, Margery name is taken from the actress who plays the peasant woman. Her daughter Gloria was going to make an appearance, but that got left on the editing floor.


End file.
